I still remember thinking that promoting Affiliate Programs was a waste of time. Until I started making a small fortune.
At the end of 2004, I started some time exploring the concept of promoting affiliate programs through pay-per-click search engines. I knew of some Internet Marketing gurus who were claiming you could make thousands of dollars every month. But I was skeptical. I remember thinking, “I know what these guys are about. They just want to sell more books.”
But I decided that at least it was worth a look. The concept is quite simple. Choose a product – and one that has an affiliate program, of course. Set up an advertising campaign at a PPC search engine like Google and choose how much you want to pay per click. Write a three line advertisement and add your affiliate link. Whenever anyone clicks through your ad and buys the product, you earn a commission.
So I looked. And thought about it. And looked some more. I was still very uncertain about the whole concept, but I finally decided to test for myself whether it could really work. And since I knew I’d be spending quite a bit of money on advertising clicks, I felt it was well worth investing in a book so I could learn from more experienced marketers how to maximize the profitability of my campaigns.
As my business grew over several weeks I purchased and read several ebooks. By far the best I read was Chris Carpenter’s Google Cash ( http://tinyurl.com/6gdaq ). His approach is genuine, down-to-earth, and he explains very clearly how to build your own affiliate marketing business. And importantly, he makes a fortune doing what he explains in the book.
I started by testing 20-30 campaigns on various products. Most of them were unsuccessful, but I expected that from what I had been reading. I would test a product, and if it didn’t work, I would drop it quickly. The key with this business is identifying the affiliate products and campaigns that are successful. Once you find one that works, the money starts rolling in.
By February of 2005 I had identified several campaigns that were turning a profit. With one of these I was spending $0.08 per click to promote an affiliate product that pays me $18 commission on each sale. Approximately 1 visitor in 100 buys the product, so I make around $10 profit for every 100 visitors that I send.
What a formula! For every 1,000 visitors, that’s $180 in commissions. That might not seem like all that much, but remember once you have a successful campaign it keeps going all day, every day. If you send just 1,000 visitors to a program like this every day, then by the end of the month you will have earned $5,400 in commissions, of which $3,000 is profit.
Does it seem too simple? Well, if it was so easy everyone from your Aunt Mabel to the mailman would be doing it. In fact, while the concept is simple, getting your campaigns to run profitably does take some work. Since I can't possibly teach you all you need to know in one article, I'll give you a few tips here and recommend Google Cash for a detailed explanation:
1. Choose Your Product Wisely. The program should pay a commission of $15 or more, otherwise it won’t be worth paying for your clicks. And if the commission is very high, be careful. Some products like web hosting and satellite dish installations may pay commissions of $100, but you face intense competition from other affiliates, so the price you need to pay to get ad exposure and clicks will probably also be very high. Sometimes it is better to identify a niche product with less competition from other affiliates.
2. Track Your Campaigns Carefully. If you’re paying around 7 or 8 cents per click for a program that pays close to $20 commission, you need to make at least one sale for every 250 visitors. If you send 300 to 400 visitors with no sale, consider dropping it.
3. Days Of The Week Do Matter. When testing campaigns keep in mind the day of the week and even the time of day. Some products sell better on Mondays through Fridays, during business hours. Others, like entertainment products, sell better in the evenings and on weekends.
Getting back to my own experience, after identifying several campaigns that ‘worked’, I spent some time fine-tuning them using techniques I read about in Google Cash. By the end of February I had earned $27,817 in commissions for the month, all on products I had never even heard of at the end of 2004. My profit was a neat $10,795.
It’s incredible really. I made this money without a web site. From home. Working an average of just an hour or two a day.
I’m finally making the amount of money online that I dreamed about.
How about you? Would you also like to build an affiliate marketing business? Could you use some additional income? I encourage you to proceed, but be smart about it. There are risks involved and you should be aware of them. You should read Chris Carpenter’s book. That way you’ll be on a fast track to more profitable campaigns. And his book will save you hundreds of dollars, easily, as you avoid some common mistakes and pitfalls.
Good Marketing!
About The Author
John McLaren has worked for many years selling IT consulting services. Now he works from home, just a few hours each day, building his highly successful affiliate marketing business. For more professional advice, he recommends the book, Google Cash, available at: http://tinyurl.com/6gdaq.
Remember there’s more to you than meets the eye. You’ve got personality, brains, feelings… in short, all those things that make you, YOU. So why diet? After all, you’re more than just a body, and things that really matter can’t be measured on a scale.
That said, there are some very good sound reasons for dieting. After all, dieting is not just for weight loss or weight gain. No, the true meaning of ‘diet’ is in choosing foods and setting eating habits that will keep you healthy, strong, and feeling your best. It takes planning and dedication. It means setting goals and following through. But it doesn’t have to be a chore. No, with the right tools it can even be fun … especially when you start to see the results that you’re looking for!
Before, choosing a diet, there are five extremely simple Steps, which if you really apply you will probably end up losing weight without even trying! Doesn’t that sound interesting. Really No kidding … try the following:
Step 1) Always sit down when you eat, preferable at a table. Don’t eat while standing, walking, driving or talking on the phone.
Step 2) Don’t read or watch television while you eat.
Step 3) Eat only when your stomach is empty. At least 3 to 4 hours from your last meal.
Step 4) Don’t take a bite until you’ve already swallowed the previous bite. Obvious? Try observing people and you’ll see them stuffing their mouths, which are still full. They probably talk at the same time! So, bite, chew, swallow, bite, chew, swallow.
Step 5) Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. No, I’m being serious and I know that this sounds stupid. For example when at home wait 5 minutes before taking second helpings. If you wait, you’ll probably find that you’re no longer hungry, whereas if you don’t wait you could probably eat thirds! Remember … Wait five minutes before taking more.
A good diet doesn’t end when you finally reach your target goal. Maintaining good nutrition, regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle is a continuing process. Only this will give you the energy to face the challenges of your busy day, boost your self-image, and make you look and feel better.
And there’s no feeling like the satisfaction when you achieve your goals by sticking to a sensible, healthy, diet plan.
Besides, where would we be without food? Changing your diet to prevent or reverse heart disease, reduce your blood pressure, or to get the better of your diabetes and, naturally to reach your desired weight, is not just a matter of cutting out butter and eggs and counting the amount of fat grams you eat each day. For instance, most Americans get close to 40% of their calories from fat! This is twice the recommended amount if you already suffer from heart disease.
There are many misconceptions and confusion concerning fat these days, some seem to make sense, others are just plain dumb! Remember, concerning fat, several things are now known for sure. It is known that most of us eat too much fat and that obesity is a major health concern, increasing the risk for heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, back pain and cancer. It is also known that saturated fat, more than anything else, is responsible for increasing our cholesterol levels.
I know it’s weird, but it’s been found, ironically, that when people focus exclusively on eliminating cholesterol from their daily diet they may unknowingly move on to a diet high in saturated fats! Some people decide to become vegetarian, leaving out meat and eggs, but the salad dressings, nuts and peanut butter, for instance, do more damage than a lean steak! Message: be careful what you eat, you may be surprised.
Nick Webb: Author of "Getting Your Life Back & Living it to the Full" offers encouragement, help, tips and advice for beating down your blood pressure, reducing cholesterol and conquering diabetes and living a longer, better life. Check out
http://www.cureyourheart.com
First off, let me start by saying this list is by no means exhaustive. However, if you can manage these 4 important components of a weight loss program, you will be on your way to a slimmer body.
Build the Foundation
Many people begin a weight loss program with their basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the amount of energy (calories) your body uses in a resting state, in the gutter. The key then is to increase your BMR so that you are burning more calories throughout the day, every day. Increase the amount of calories you burn, increase the amount of fat you lose. Makes sense, yes? The best way to increase your BMR is through adding muscle tissue. Females often shudder at the idea of adding muscle due to their fear of becoming “bulky.” Relax babe! It’s a little harder to add that kind of muscle mass than you think. Besides, a little muscle mass goes a long way toward achieving a leaner body. And this is what you want, right?
Specificity of Program
Not just any exercise program will do for weight loss. Simply burning calories is not good enough. The program must be designed to elicit specific hormonal responses that are conducive to weight loss. I’ll give you a hint…hours and hours of cardio is NOT the answer!
Consistency
This one pretty much speaks for itself. Have you ever achieved anything great with an inconsistent effort? Unless you consider failure a great achievement, you probably haven’t. You must exercise consistently to get the results you want! It amazes me how many people put so little effort into their exercise program and complain about not seeing results. Even the most well designed programs are useless if they are not adhered to on a consistent basis.
Diet
Again, this one goes without saying. You can’t expect to achieve a leaner body by continuing your unhealthy eating habits. This isn’t to say that you should drop everything in your diet immediately and exchange it for “healthy” food. You would end up miserable and revert back to your old habits within a month. Instead, practice moderation and don’t overindulge. Also, phase certain unhealthy foods out of your diet while introducing healthier foods. The transition will be easier to make and a lot easier to maintain.
Chad Anderson, CSCS operates an online fitness programming and in-home personal training service. He holds a BS degree in exercise science with a minor in nutrition and is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA. You can visit his website at www.afitsolutions.com
chad@afitsolutions.com
Is it better to lose 2lbs a day or 2lbs a week?
Yes it’s very possible that you can lose 60lbs in 30 days but I don’t think you would want to and here’s the reason why:
Let’s say you do lose 60lbs in 30 days… how much of that weight you lose do you think is going to be pure body fat? Remember-- body fat makes us look ugly.
Anytime you try to lose more than 2lbs a week or 60lbs in 30 days (2lbs a day!)…A larger part of the weight you lose is only going to be water and muscle. Losing a lot of water and muscle weight does nothing to improve your looks and it slows down your metabolism
Slow metabolism = easier weight gain
Every time you see a weight loss ad that’s too good to be true…the ad is basically saying “Hey you can lose 60lbs in 30 days but some of that weight you lose is going to be water and muscle weight”
Whenever you are trying to lose weight (body fat) for good and look your very best you definitely do not want to lose any muscle. Every time you lose muscle your metabolism slows down. A slower metabolism makes it easier for you to gain weight
As a matter of fact you may be one of those people who gain weight just by looking at food. The reason for your easy weight gain is that you probably don’t have that much muscle to begin with and when you try to lose 60lbs overnight you are only going to lose more muscle making it very easy for to gain all the weight back you just lost!
The more muscle you have the better you look. Even if you had two people of the same height & weight but both had different amounts of muscle in their bodies--the person who has the most muscle will always look better.
Are the outrageous claims that the weight loss ads make true? Can you lose 60lbs in 30 days or 10lbs overnight? The answer isn’t No but a big Maybe.
But if you do happen to lose 60lbs in 30 days you’re only going to look worse (because of the muscle you lose) and you’re going to gain it all back quicker than you lost it (because you’re metabolism is slower now that you lost muscle)
What if you have to lose 10lbs in one week to pass a physical exam? In this case you may have no choice but to go on “Dr. whoever’s rice cake diet” to lose 10lbs in a week. All you’re looking for in that situation is a quick fix to your weight loss problem.
But if you want to lose weight for good, look your best, & keep your metabolism burning at a steady rate… You got to lose weight at a much slower rate.
You want to try to lose no more than 2lbs a week or 3lbs at the most when you want to lose weight permanently. Usually when you lose anything over 2lbs a week you are only losing water and muscle weight which again has no effect on long-term weight loss or significantly improving the way you look.
Losing 2lbs a week is a lot simpler than trying to lose 10lbs a week. One of the things you can do to start losing 2lbs a week is to substitute higher calorie foods you eat with lower calorie foods.
For example a simple trick that I have most of my clients do is to replace all the sodas and juices they drink with water. The drinking water trick is taken very lightly by a lot of people---but many of my clients tell me that they see a difference in their weight after drinking only water for a couple of weeks.
The other thing you can do is to increase your daily physically activity. This doesn’t mean that you have to start signing up for marathons regularly. To gradually increase your physical activity you can--
* Park in the back of parking lots so you have to walk more to your destination
* You can take the stairs instead of the elevator—it doesn’t have to be all the flights…walk some flights and take the elevator the rest of the way.
* Play golf or play with your kids everyday
The point is to just do something…It doesn’t have to a lot at first but after about a couple weeks start to take 20-30minitue walks in the park or ride a bicycle everyday.
Long-term weight loss doesn’t happen in 60 days or overnight… it happens in the Long-term. Just remember that the next time you see a weight loss ad that promises you unbelievable results.
About the Author
Adrian Bryant has helped many people reach their fitness goals in his 10+ years of personal training. Adrian holds a B.S. degree in Exercise science from Longwood University. Adrian continues to help people lose weight with his web site
weightlossmadeeasy.net
Many people will tell you that traffic exchanges are not effective. For some this may be true depending on the service or product you offer. I, however, have had several customers that found my services through my advertising on traffic exchanges. So I am gonna tell you the 3 ways to make this an effective advertising option for you.
First: You need to be sure your home page is effective at explaining what service or product you are offering. Traffic exchanges have a timer so the person viewing your site has the option to leave within a matter of seconds. So your main goal is to give them a reason to stay!!
Second: Only choose traffic exchanges that offer manual surfing. Most people do not even watch the window when an autosurf is running. If it is a manual surf exchange they have to physically watch the pages in order to go to the next site. This gives you the best opportunity for them to actually see your site and be drawn in by your content.
Third: Be prepared to work. In order to earn credits for people to view your site, you have to view other people's sites. That is why it is called a "Traffic Exchange". The more you view other sites, the more your site is viewed.
With these 3 steps you can use traffic exchanges as an effective advertising strategy. It takes planning and work to get results, but doesn't every advertising plan? I urge everyone new to advertising to do alot of research to find the plan that is best for you and your business.
About the Author
Stacy Hensley designs websites, makes graphics, and also runs a Banner Exchange.
http://www.jakscreations.net
http://jaksbe.808webhosting.com
3 Tips to Reduce your Advertising Costs
Advertising costs are a bitter pill to swallow for many small businesses. Many businesses rely on advertising to keep customer traffic up, but the cost of a continuous advertising presence can be overwhelming for some small business owners especially in today’s sluggish economy. Here are 3 tips to help you reduce your advertising costs while maintaining your advertising effectiveness.
Piggyback: Do you regularly send out flyers or mailers to the local market? Why not share that cost with another small business. If you normally buy the back page of the weekly community newspaper, why not split that page with another reputable retailer? Piggybacking your ad on another ad, or allowing another retailer to piggyback on your ad essentially cuts your cost in half. While it may also reduce your ad response somewhat, it is an excellent method of maintaining a continuous advertising presence and saving money. The key is to piggyback with a reputable partner. If you reduce the size of your ad you put the control over who gets the other half in the hands of the newspaper or magazine. Instead, buy the ad yourself and work out a deal with a pre-selected small business in your area to ensure that your shared ad is not shared with a competitor, or a company that you would prefer not to be associated with.
Reduce your Frequency: Advertising is usually measured in two ways: Reach and Frequency. Reach is the number of people that actually see your ad, and Frequency is the estimated number of times that those people see your ad. So a low reach, high frequency campaign will result in your message being heard often by a fairly small group of potential customers.
If you have to sacrifice one of these, it should be frequency. Your 12-week radio campaign can become a 10 week campaign. Or instead of 6 spots per day you can reduce it to 5. Reach should be left untouched, simply because you selected a particular group of customers for one reason: you think they might buy your product or service. So don’t cut them out of the equation. Instead, hit them less often with your marketing message.
Look to PR: Advertising is expensive. PR (Public Relations) is essentially free. If you can gain some exposure through your local media outlets, you can be sure that it will generate a better response for your small business than your typical ad campaign. One article about your business in a local newspaper or an appearance on a local TV show is better than advertising because of the credibility it brings to your business. You could easily drop a few ads from your campaign if you land some publicity for your business. By keeping your local media informed of your business activities, including things like major sales, expansions, or trends in your business that customers would find interesting, you may open the doors to free publicity and save advertising dollars along with it.
By piggybacking your ads with those of other companies, slightly reducing your frequency, and seeking PR opportunities for your business, you will be able to reduce your advertising costs without greatly affecting your advertising response rates.
About the Author
Will Dylan is the Author of “Small Business Big Marketing” a powerful e-book for small businesses available through his website www.marketingyoursmallbusiness.com .
Will also offers article and news release writing services.
There are several ways to advertise and get the word out about your business online and the best of them include f-ree search engines, pay per click search engines, writing articles, utilizing press releases, doing joint ventures/ad co-ops, and posting to message boards and forums related to your target market.
But one advertising method that's neglected by most online marketers is off-line advertising.
There are several low/no cost ways to advertise off-line and I want to share 3 of them with you.
1) Business Cards
If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.
Also, whenever I visit a restaraunt, bar, or club, I'll leave my business cards in all of the bathroom stalls. (Just make sure nobody is in there of course... lol!)
And don't laugh at this! It really works. When I visit the bathroom an hour or two later, I'll find that all of my business cards are gone and I'll have a fresh new set of sales the very next day.
You can get f-ree professional looking business cards at VistaPrint.com, all you have to pay is shipping and handling:
http://www.vistaprint.com
2) Flyers
With today's technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)
Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meet on the street. Many bars and clubs don't have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.
And don't forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.
Here's a site that lets you create and print flyers or brochures online for f-ree:
http://www.mybrochuremaker.com/
3) Automobile Advertising
What... ? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.
Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people everyday whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It's fairly inexpensive and a great way to "drive" home your message.
Here are a couple of sites to check out for this very sort of thing:
http://www.iditplates.net
http://www.magneticsigns.com
Those are just a few of the ways to advertise off-line. I'm sure you can come up with other clever ways as well.
You've got a brain... use it!
Al Martinovic runs a successful "niche" business at http://www.ineedsmokes.com
and publishes a popular internet marketing newsletter at http://www.milleniummarketers.com